2011 National Conservation Day: Celebrating Forests for People

“Celebrating Forests for People” was the theme of Nepal’s third National Conservation Day on September 24, 2011. The day commemorates the legacy of the WWF employees and other conservation leaders who lost their lives in a tragic helicopter accident in Kangchenjunga, Nepal in 2006.

At a special ceremony, organizations and individuals received Abraham Conservation Awards to recognize their notable contributions to conservation. Eight scholarships were awarded to young Nepali conservationists to continue the legacy of the conservation heroes that were lost.

WWF is committed to honoring the memory of our friends and colleagues, many of whom laid the foundation for our work in the Eastern Himalayas. We do this by nurturing future conservationists, rewarding the outstanding work of individuals and organizations to help protect nature, and striving to find the best solutions to benefit nature and people.

The WWF conservation heroes who were lost were:

Mingma Norbu Sherpa: The first chief warden of Sagarmatha National Park in the Everest region who led WWF’s Eastern Himalayas work.

Dr. Chandra P. Gurung: The head of WWF’s Nepal office, who played an instrumental role in the creation of landscape level conservation in the Terai.

Yeshi Choden: Led our work in the mountains of Nepal, working closely with local communities, especially in the field of traditional medicinal plants.

“We have been able to follow the path which was envisioned by our conservation heroes and I believe they are looking at us from above and are proud.”-Anil Manandhar, WWF Nepal